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Krang (Earth-616)
, Atlanteans; former ally of Attuma, Byrrah, and Dr. Lemuel Dorcas, employer of the Puppet Master and Orka, former member of the Viper's Serpent Squad | Relatives = | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Atlantic Ocean and Eastern seaboard | Gender = Male | Height = 6'0" | Weight = 290 lbs | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Black | UnusualFeatures = | UnusualSkinColour = Blue | Citizenship = Atlantean | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Minister of War; Former warlord of Atlantis, former usuper of the throne of Atlantis, professional adventurer | Education = | Origin = Atlantean | PlaceOfBirth = Atlantis City, Atlantis, Atlantic Ocean | Creators = Stan Lee; Jack Kirby | First = Fantastic Four Annual #1 | HistoryText = 20th Century Not much is known about the past life of the Atlantean known as Krang, it is stated that he was born to the upper crust of Atlantean society in the early 20th Century. He soon joined the Atlantean military and by the 1920s he was an ambitious soldier seeking any means possible to rise in the ranks. It was in 1920 when Atlantis was rocked by explosive charges set by the S.S. Oracle a surface vessel on an exploration mission of Antartica. The vessel was under the command of Leonard McKenzie. Instead of going to war Princess Fen convinced her father Emperor Thakorr to allow her to establish dialogue with the men aboard the vessel. When she failed to return, an army of soldiers went to the surface to attack, as Thakorr feared the worst. Krang joined this attack force that stormed the ship just days after Fen and Leonard had married. Leonard was seemingly slain in the attack and Krang personally pulled Fen from the ship and returned her to the kingdom below. Nine months later Fen gave birth to her son, Namor the Sub-Mariner who was destined to be the next ruler of Atlantis and much later Krang's greatest foe. By 1941, when Namor had grown to adulthood, Krang had rose to the rank of captain in the Atlantean military. Due to Namor's activities fighting against the Axis powers during World War II, the Nazis attacked Atlantis, and despite Krang's objections Namor led a counter attack to avenge his people. In the aftermath of the battle, it was learned that Emperor Thakorr was wounded and was now in a coma and named Namor as his successor. This was much to the chagrin of the Emperor's step-son Byrrah. When it was later learned that the Atlantean scientist known as Meranno secretly supplied information to the Nazis he was exiled from the kingdom. Witnessing Merrano's vows for revenge, Krang decided to seek an alliance with Byrrah to take control of the Atlantean throne. Soon Namor's effort in the war took him away from Atlantis until its end in 1945. During this period of time Krang rose to the rank of commander. With the war's end, Thakorr awoke from his coma and was manipulated by Byrrah and Krang into believing that Namor had abandoned his people for those of the surface world. When Namor finally returned home, Commander Krang and his soldiers were there to bar his path and informed him that the Emperor had awoken and sentenced to exile. With no other choice, Namor left and returned to heroics on the surface. Eventually in 1955, Namor was allowed to return to Atlantis. Upon his return Krang had risen in rank once more and was now a general in the Atlantean army. When Namor suggested that the kingdom join the United Nations, he led a party to the surface only to be chased off by the prejudiced population of New York City. When Namor suggested that the people of Atlantis remain below the waves and cut off all contact with the surface world, Krang agreed -- although his ambitions were to build up a formidable army to conquer the surface when the time was right. Soon after, Atlantis was attacked by the telepath known as Destiny and his Helmet of Power. Atlantis was decimated, costing the life of both Princess Fen and Emperor Thakorr as well as much of the royal family. Namor himself was stricken with amnesia by Destiny and was forced to wander the streets of New York for the coming decades struggling to remember who he truly was. With Namor missing and the rest of the royal family now dead, Byrrah took control of the Atlantean throne, and his first order of business was to promote Krang to the rank of warlord. Byrrah then ordered the people of Atlantis to leave their home in the Antarctic and return to the place of their origins in the oceans to the north. Eventually they settled and built a new kingdom. In 1961, when the search for Namor proved fruitless, Byrrah sent Warlord Krang to seek out the exiled geneticist Vyrra to biologically engineer a new warrior to defend Atlantis. Vyrra's efforts yielded the fierce warrior known as Mako. How effective this was is unknown, but a year later Mako eventually became a foe of the heroic surface dwellers known as the First Line, and later sacrificed her life stopping a Skrull invasion of Earth. Modern Age Namor Returns About 14 years later, Namor's memories were revived by the Human Torch of the fledgling hero group known as the Fantastic Four. Thinking that his people were wiped out by nuclear tests by the surface, Namor waged war against the surface world for a time, while also trying to find the remnants of his kingdom.Starting with , see the entry on the Sub-Mariner for further details. During the convening years, Krang began romancing Lady Dorma, Namor's distant cousin who long loved the missing monarch. Eventually, Namor located the new kingdom of Atlantis. Spotting the only rival for his throne, Byrrah gave the order to Warlord Krang to attack, but the attack soon halted when his identity was discovered. Namor soon earned the ire of both Krang and Byrrah in the same day when he not only reclaimed the crown of Atlantis, but Lady Dorma rescinded Krang's proposals for marriage to renew her romance with Namor. While the people of Atlantis rejoiced over the return of their rightful ruler, Krang still attempted to win back the heart of Dorma, to no avail. Later Krang was part of an invasion of the surface world that was ultimately turned back by the Fantastic Four. In retaliation, the Sub-Mariner kidnapped the Invisible Girl and kept her hostage. Seeing that Namor cared for the surface woman, Krang played on Dorma's jealousy by tricking her into leaving Sue Storm to drown in the oceans. They were shocked when they witnessed Namor break off his battle with the other members of the Fantastic Four to rush her to a hospital on the surface and save her life. Returning with this information to the people of Atlantis, Krang convinced the citizens to abandon their leader for saving the life of a surface woman. Conquering Atlantis However the people of Atlantis eventually accepted Namor back as their leader and Krang resumed his role as warlord under Namor. Ambitious as ever, Krang sought to go to war against the surface world once again. Namor was reluctant to do so as it would sacrifice many of the lives of his people and instead went to the surface alone to seek a legal means to claim sovereignty over the world's oceans. With Namor absent from the kingdom, Krang took this opportunity to take over Atlantis himself. When Dorma warned Namor of this situation, he abandoned his legal bid and returned to his kingdom. When Namor returned he was betrayed by Dorma when he spurred her romantic advances and Krang and his minions locked Namor in a cell that he could not break free from. However when Dorma started to feel guilty and freed Namor, the Sub-Mariner went on the quest to find Neptune's Trident as a means of proclaiming himself the rightful ruler of Atlantis. However, this was all playing into Krang's hands. Expecting that Namor would undergo this quest, he placed the Kraken in the Cave of Shadows, which happened to be the first location of Namor's quest. Although Namor survived this first trap, Krang had others in store for the disposed monarch. In the meantime, Krang implemented many harsh reforms on the people of Atlantis, including a burdensome taxation system. He also continued to pressure Dorma to marry him, which was something she refused to do and so Krang had her sequestered to her quarters. When Namor defeated the Seaweed Man, Krang once more attempted to sway Dorma to her side. When she continued to refuse him, he had her gassed, placed in a plasti-thene cylander and then left her in the domain of the deadly Faceless Ones. It was by this time that the people of Atlantis grew tired of Krang's totalitarian rule and began to revolt. In order to stop the ensuing riots, Krang unleashed his various high-tech weapons to keep the people at bay. He then unleashed his Robo-Tank upon the masses to keep them in line. While he was occupied by this, Namor managed to recover the Trident of Neptune and save Lady Droma from the Faceless Ones, although the lady was injured in the battle. Namor returned to Atlantis and fought through Krang's defenses and destroyed the Robo-Tank. After placing Dorma in a Revitalizer Ray, he then went to face Krang. In one-on-one combat, Krang was no match for the Sub-Mariner's superior strength and he was easily defeated and tossed in the palace dungeon. After Namor reclaimed the throne and celebrations were over, Krang was sentenced to exile and ejected from Atlantis. Although he faced defeat and humiliation, Krang vowed to one day get revenge. Exile Soon Atlantis was plagued by earthquakes that threatened to unleash the Behemoth, a massive and deadly creature created by Atlantean science. From his secret hideout, Krang observed events and watched as the Sub-Mariner was possessed by the Puppet Master while also seeking a way to use this to his advantage. After Namor shook off the Puppet Master's control and returned to Atlantis to battle the Behemoth, Krang sought out the Puppet Master. Finding the surface-dweller's secret hideout, Krang forced him to construct a puppet to control the Behemoth in order to use it against Namor. However the puppet became useless when Namor used electric eels against the Behemoth, since this caused electrical feedback to the puppet itself and rendering it ineffective in the process. Still seeing an opportunity, Krang returned to the deep and found Lady Dorma, then by using the damaged puppet as a bluff, he convinced Dorma to leave Atlantis to be his bride in order to save Namor's life. Dorma, unaware that Namor had already defeated the Behemoth, agreed and left a vague message with Namor's advisor Lord Vashti that she was leaving with Krang. Knowing that Namor would hunt them down, Krang exposed both himself and Dorma to a gas that allowed them to breath on the surface and changed their skin tone to resemble that of a Caucasian male and female and fled to the surface. They surfaced near Flushing, New York where they were attacked by the Avenger known as Iron Man, but they managed to escape. Seeing this confrontation led to a battle between Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner, which allowed Krang to get ahead of his pursuer. They fled to New York City, but Namor soon caught up with them. Battling Namor in his cruiseship, Krang seemingly felled his foe with a powerful blast. However Namor survived, although he was once more stricked with amnesia and then manipulated into doing the bidding of the Secret Empire. When Krang spotted Namor again, he blasted his foe once again, but only served to restore Namor's memory. Krang fled Namor again and then began plotting an attack on the surface world. Using his warship, Krang caused a massive tidal wave to flood New York City which caused untold damage in the process. He then forced Dorma to accompany him to the city so he could gloat over the devastation he wrought. In the meantime, the military discovered Krang's ship and when the pair returned, they trapped the two fugitives in a net. They were then hung out in the middle of the city as a trap for the Sub-Mariner. With their air breathing formula fading away, both Krang and Dorma were beginning to suffocate on the surface. However, Namor rescued them and pulled them into the sea, saving their lives. Learning that Dorma was fooled into following Krang, the Sub-Mariner battled it out with him. However, due to being weakened in his fight by the military, Namor would have lost if not for Lord Vashti teleporting both he and Krang back to the kingdom. There Namor was healed and Krang agreed to face Namor by duel of combat. This time, Krang was allowed to equip himself with armor that boosted his strength to match that of Namor. Despite this handicap, Krang was still easily defeated by Namor in hand-to-hand combat and was once more sent into exile once again. Deadly Alliances When Byrrah once again stole the throne from Namor his first order as ruler of Atlantis was to bring Krang out of exile and invite the barbarian Attuma to his side to assist in his rule. They then subdued Namor and exiled him to Inferno Isle. However soon, Lady Dorma and Lord Vashti discovered that Byrrah used specially crafted lamps to convinced the people of Atlantis to turn against Namor. They then reversed the process and when the people began to revolt, Byrrah and his cohorts attempted to unleash a powerful weapon. Before they could, Namor returned from his exile and smashed the device. In the aftermath of the battle, both Attuma and Krang fled the scene, leaving Byrrah to face Namor's wrath alone. Byrrah found himself exiled much like Krang did for his failed coup months earlier. Many months after this, Krang still desired revenge against Namor. In his travels he gained the company of a loyal, but dimwitted, assistant named Orka. They soon crossed paths with another foe of the Sub-Mariner, the surface scientist Dr. Dorcas. Krang and Dorcas allied themselves and used the doctor's machines to endow Orka with the power of his namesake, the Killer Whale. They then captured Dorma and others so they could be used as hostages. They soon captured Namor and forced him into bondage, but Dorma and the others escaped in the process. When Krang, Dorcas and Orka launched an attack on Atlantis shortly thereafter, they were opposed by an unlikely defender: Namor's foe Tiger Shark, another one of Dorcas' creations. During the battle, Namor broke free and joined the fight as well. While Tiger Shark and Orka seemingly perished in an avalanche, Krang and Dorcas fled. . Tiger Shark and Orka later turned up alive and well in and respectively. Krang and Dorcas then forged another alliance with Byrrah. From Dorca's lab, they launched a nuclear missile that severely damaged Atlantis while Namor was away. Byrrah used this as an opportunity to try once again to take control of the Atlantean throne. Namor however managed to earned the right to find the real attackers within 24 hours. Namor tracked the blast to Dorcas' lab and captured both Dorcas and Krang and forced them back to Atlantis where the confessed to helping Byrrah. With their plot foiled, Krang, Dorcas and Byrrah were imprisoned in Atlantis. Months later, Namor decided to set Krang free but he was to remain in exile. Krang was then drawn to the powerful Serpent Crown and recovered it. By donning the crown, its powerful influence ordered him to seek out the recently ousted Madam Hydra in his plans. Krang then recruited Madame Hydra, who was now taking on the role of Viper, to reform the Serpent Squad, by assisting the group into breaking out of prison. The group then went to capture the CEO of Roxxon Oil at a nearby movie theatre. They were opposed by the costumed hero known as Nomad but they managed to escape with their hostage when Nomad tripped over his own cape. . Nomad in reality was Steve Rogers, aka the original Captain America. Steve abandoned his role as Captain America over his disgust of the government in he adopted the Nomad identity in until he eventually realized that only he could be the true Captain America and resumed the mantle in . They then used the power of the Crown to force the CEO of Roxxon to allow them access to a Roxxon oil drilling platform on the Pacific coast that was drilling near the undersea nation of Lemuria. Through the Crown's influence, Krang sought to raise Lemuria to the surface to drive off its people so that he could plunder the domain for its secrets. However Krang's ploy was foiled when Nomad and the Sub-Mariner interfered. Soon Roxxon security got involved and in the ensuing fire fight, Krang was forced to turn the Serpent Crown over to the Serpent Squad while they made their escape. Krang himself apparently managed to escape as well. His Own Army Upon learning that the population of Atlantis were trapped in suspended animation, Krang gathered up an army of warriors which included other Atlantean exiles, former warriors of Attuma, rogue Lemurians, and even surface dwellers and returned to Atlantis to loot the kingdom. However his plan ran afoul when the Sub-Mariner arrived with his uneasy ally Dr. Doom who had been honour bound to restore the people of Atlantis. While Namor fought the forces of Krang, Doom succeeded in reviving the Atlanteans and they joined their sovereign in repelling the invaders. Krang meanwhile battled with Dr. Doom, and was once more easily defeated. Doom then left Krang to be dealt with by Namor. Apparently escaping capture, Krang reformed his army and laid low for a number of years. When Tony Stark, secretly Iron Man, was on the brink of losing his company to Stane International and struggling with alcoholism he sent all of his suits of armor into the ocean in order to prevent Obadiah Stane from taking possession of them. These suits of armor ended up landing in an sunken vessel near Krang's domain. Determined to obtain these suits of armor, Krang personally led a war party to claim them. They found opposition from the new Iron Man and SHIELD director Nick Fury who both sought to reclaim the discarded armor before it fell into the wrong hands. Ultimately, Iron Man recovered the armor and destroyed it to prevent it from being used for evil. Eventually, a series of important events began to take place that would eventually take place that finally brought Krang back to his native Atlantis. First, Attuma took control of the Atlantean throne. Next the Deviant named Ghaur was resurrected in a mortal body and sought to reform the then destroyed Serpent Crown. . The Serpent Crown was destroyed by Dr. Strange in Ghaur gathered allies to his cause, which included Attuma, Krang, and another long time Sub-Mariner foe, Llyra the queen of Lemuria. Each had their own roles to play in a crisis that has since been referred to as "Atlantis Attacks", a plot which sought to bring the elder god Set to Earth. After Ghaur collected all he needed to construct a massive reproduction of the Serpent Crown, he required that his cohorts distract the Earth's heroes while they completed their plan. To this end, Attuma sent his generals to attack various US army bases. Each base was defended by squads consisting of members of the east coast and west coast branches of the Avengers. Krang's army attacked Cape Canaveral, Florida and were opposed by the Avengers Captain America, the Vision, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Mockingbird. While the heroes were busy fighting Krang's forces, Krang himself was defeated by the Sub-Mariner -- who believed dead at the time was acting in secret. . Namor was seemingly slain in . He was revealed to be alive an well in Ultimately, Ghaur's attempts to bring Set to Earth were stopped by an assembly of Earth's heroes. Following his last defeat, Krang decided to adopt a revenge scheme once used by his long time foe, Namor, and purchased Major Motion Pictures. While out of character, Krang used the movie studio to bilk investors of any profits from a horrible movie based on the super-heroine She-Hulk. When the She-Hulk attempted to prevent the film from being made, Krang unleashed Orka on her but she ultimately defeated Orka and exposed Krang plan. Following this most recent defeat, Krang and Orka were incarcerated in the Vault prison for some time. After many years in captivity, Krang either broke out or was released. Resuming his usual ways he kidnapped Namora, Namor's cousin, to be his betrothed and then attacked Russia. His plan was foiled by the combined efforts of the Agents of Atlas and Russia's Winter Guard. The Last Defenders Fate would take him from being an exile and onto the paths to being a hero. In the convening years the United States implemented the Superhuman Registration Act and the 50-State Initiative program that saw government sanctioned super-hero teams place in every state. During this time, Krang sought to surpass his rival Namor he travelled to Wundagore Mountain and sought out the geneticists there to alter his genetics so that he could breath both above and beneath the waves. He soon learned that Meranno, long since calling himself U-Man, had made a deal with the Brand Corporation to drill for minerals over the site of the ruins of Atlantis. Krang went to the drilling platform and slaughtered Brand employees and the man who hired U-Man. Before he could slay U-Man, member of Nighthawk's Defenders team also attacked the rig. When Krang attempted to slay U-Man he was stopped by Nighthawk, after some heated words Krang left the scene leaving the Defenders to deal with arriving SHIELD units. As Nighthawk was unsanctioned for this mission his Defenders team was shut down. Nighthawk was also forced to surrender his costumed identity. When the techno-mage Yandroth showed Kyle Richmond the Defenders of Earth-89125 which included Krang among their members, he became determined to form this new team of Defenders. He then used his resources to gather She-Hulk, Son of Satan, and a new Nighthawk. Meanwhile, Krang was rounding up a group of eco-terrorists off the coast of Greenland when he was approached by Son of Satan who convinced him to join Richmond's new incarnation of the Defenders. The group operated out of New Jersey, and in separate from the 50-State Initiative. One of their early battles was against the Microverse native known as the Psycho-Man New Atlantis Following the destruction of Atlantis, Namor constructed New Atlantis beneath Utopia, the home of the X-Men. Krang eventually returned to Atlantis, and with apparently all forgiven, was allowed back into the Atlantean military, all be it demoted to the rank of commander. Krang was displeased with many things about New Atlantis, especially Namor's continued association with the X-Men. He found a seemingly like mind in the young soldier named Selach. Both Krang and Selach petitioned Namor to hunt down those who refused to come and live in New Atlantis as traitors, but Namor refused to attack those lingerers from the fragmented old kingdom. Soon, New Atlantis was under attack by the undersea Vampires known as the Aqueos led by the resurrected Emperor Thakorr. While Namor vanquished Thakorr and the majority of the Aqueos, Krang remained in New Atlantis and helped defend the realm from the creatures.The Aqueos attack on New Atlantis was part of the Curse of the Mutants event. Namor's battle with them was chronicled from through . Krang was revealed to have fought the Aqueos, behind the scene, in When Namor was hailed as a hero for his defeat of the Aqueos, both Krang and Selach were furious and sought to fight against Namor's rule. To this end they sought allies from the lower-class citizens living in the section of Little Lemuria. There they joined forces with Madu and his Triton soldiers. Sowing dissent among the lower class, Krang soon gained a large group of followers and used his influence to have a barrier erected blocking Little Lemuria from the rest of New Atlantis. During the annual "Running of the Beasts", Krang and Selach then caused danger when they set the beasts off on a rampage. Namor and his allies tried to quell the beasts. This proved difficult when suddenly Krang and his forces dove in and helped fight them back. When Namor accused Krang of being responsible for the day's chaos, he flouted Namor's authority. To everyone's surprise, Namor allowed Krang to go free and he was uninterested in attacking Krang as it would prove unpopular with the people of the lower class. Selach soon proved to be far too much of an extremist than Krang could control. When Krang captured a borer beast, he intended to kidnap Namor's Logomancer, the only being capable of controlling the creature. The plan called for keeping the Logomancer hostage while the borer beast was set loose in a bid to force Namor to give up his throne. However Selach sought a more violent solution and slew the Logomancer. He then told Krang before swimming off to unleash the borer beast. When Namor learned of the Logomancer's murder he confronted Krang who finally bowed to Namor's supremacy and agreed to help him stop Selach. However they were too late to stop Selach and his minions and they unleashed the borer beast. In order to stop the borer, Namor's lover Abira sacrificed their possible future where she and Namor would have a child in order to become the new Logomancer. With her mystical powers she helped Namor stop the borer beast from causing Utopia to collapse on New Atlantis, saving the lives of everyone in both societies. With the crisis over, Krang offered his loyalty to Namor as his new Minister of War, an offer Namor accepted after he slew Selach. Recent activities Most recently, Krang returned to the Defenders and accompanied them on a mission to stop the monster Gargantus. Soon after this the group was hired to investigate data leaks coming out of top secret SHIELD files. During a briefing they learned that the data breach involved information gathered regarding unexplained phenomenon gathered by the former head of SHIELD, Norman Osborn. The group tracked this data leak to a retired and disavowed SHIELD operative named Jack Truman who led revealed that he was providing this information to the Teen Brigade who was using this intel to protect the In-Betweener who was being hunted by demons known as the Braak'nhud. Later, Krang joined the Son of Satan and She-Hulk in helping Miss America defend the In-Betweener from the demons, by covering their escape. Krang and his teammates did not catch up to the Teen Brigade until much later in the nation of Latveria where the group was trying to stop the Young Masters from slaying Kristoff Vernard. Krang and the Defenders helped prevent this from happening while also holding off an attack from the Braak'nhund until the Teen Brigade's leader Ultimate Nullifier realized the only way to stop the creatures was to shoot the In-Betweener with his Nullifier guns, thus setting off a chain reaction that banished the Braak'nhud and saved the planet in the process. | Powers = Krang possesses the conventional attributes of Homo mermanus: gills that extract oxygen from water, superhuman physiology to withstand extreme pressures and temperatures, and acute vision. He can swim at approximately 30 miles per hour. Previously he was able to remain out of water for approximately nine minutes before beginning to suffocate. However, he can operate on the surface by wearing a water-filled helmet or using a chemical that enables him to draw oxygen from the air. Later he was genetically altered to become an amphibian and can now stay out of the water indefinitely. | Abilities = | Strength = Krang possesses the normal strength of an Atlantean male who engages in moderate regular exercise. He can lift (press) approximately 4.55 tons in air, under optimal conditions. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = Krang employs various weaponry and armor built for him by his human and Atlantean allies. | Notes = *Krang does not use a dual identity, but his existence is known to few surface-dwellers. *Exiled citizen of Atlantis, convicted of treason | Trivia = | Links = * Marvel Directory }} Category:Underwater Breathing Category:Utopians Category:Warlords